Undated photo of Whistler Dogsledding guide Bob Fawcett and guests. Fawcett has been identified as the man who killed 100 dogs and claims he now suffers post-traumatic stress disorder.Whistler Dogsledding
/ Special to The Province

WHISTLER — A man who shot 100 sled dogs complained to WorkSafeBC B.C. that he suffered post traumatic stress after the slaughter and was granted compensation.

The news has horrified dog lovers and led to a joint criminal investigation by the RCMP and B.C. SPCA.

“Shocking doesn’t begin to describe what happened to these poor dogs,” said an emotional Marcie Moriarty, B.C. SPCA’s manager of animal-cruelty investigations on Monday.

“I don’t want to use the term euthanize because the man describes it as execution-style killings.”

A WorkSafe B.C. report dealing with the compensation, details the gruesome scenes on April 21 and 23, 2010, when the worker euthanized 100 dogs over two days. The size of the cull meant he had to kill the dogs in full view of the rest of the pack, leading to a bloody frenzy of wounded, frightened and angry dogs.

The dogs were buried in a mass grave.

One dog, Nora, was found crawling around in the mass grave 20 minutes after he had dumped her body into the pit. Others were chased, shot cleanly or died after their throats were slit. The employee, according to the report, was “covered in blood” when finished.

According to the report, on April 21, the man wounded one dog — Suzy, the mother of his family’s pet dog — who managed to run away despite having the left side of its cheek blown off and an eye hanging from its socket. A rifle with a scope was used to kill her from a distance; that bullet passed through her and seriously wounded Poker, a dog that wasn’t slated to be euthanized. It was later killed.

On April 23, one dog, who had part of its head blown off, attacked him after he ran out of ammunition. He killed the dog with a knife, slitting its throat while it was on top of him.

The report said the man, who had named and raised many of the dogs, has “continued to deteriorate mentally and emotionally” since the incident.

While not named in the WorkSafe B.C. documents, the man has been identified as Robert T. Fawcett, listed in corporate papers as a director of Howling Dog Tours Whistler Ltd.

In a Dec. 27, 2010, posting on a website forum for trauma sufferers, a Whistler resident named Bob Fawcett, an award-winning dogsledder, wrote: “I’ve had a pretty horrible ordeal and actually figure I may be able to be a good sounding board for others ... and it has pretty much destroyed my soul.”

Outdoor Adventures at Whistler said in a release that it has had a “financial interest” in Howling Dogs Tour Whistler Inc., which has “operational control of the dogsledding operations,” for four years.

In the statement issued Monday, Outdoor Adventures said: “OAW was aware of the relocation and euthanization of dogs at Howling Dogs in April 2010, but it was our expectation that it was done in a proper, legal and humane manner.”

Outdoor Adventures is owned by Joey Houssian, son of Intrawest founder Joe Houssian.

Records obtained by The Province indicate Houssian has been an owner of Howling Dogs Tour Whistler since Dec. 27, 2006. He is presently the sole owner of the company.

Houssian did not respond to phone calls Monday.

According to its brochures, Outdoor Adventures offers a three-hour dogsled tour in the Soo Valley for $169 per person.

Moriarty said a criminal investigation would focus on the man who killed the dogs, but the corporate management would be investigated as well.

There are provisions in the SPCA act that allow for Criminal Code charges and Moriarty says this case warrants them.

“Dogs crawling around in a mass grave; half of one’s face blown off — if those actions don’t constitute Criminal Code offences, I don’t know what does.”

Moriarty acknowledged it has historically been difficult to persuade Crown prosecutors to accept criminal charges for animal cruelty.

Moriarty said the man has claimed it was not his decision to kill the dogs, but that’s no excuse and he’s culpable.

Other dogsled tour operators in Whistler distanced themselves from the reported actions.

In the Callaghan Valley, Craig Beattie, general manager of Canadian Snowmobile & All Terrain Adventures, was asked if that operation has ever performed mass euthanizations, such as the case alleged with Outdoor Adventures.

“Absolutely not,” he said. “I’ve not heard of anything like this in my life. It’s shocking.”

Shawn Wilson, president of dogsled tour company Blackcomb Adventures, said Outdoor Adventures wanted to be “the biggest company in town.” His own company uses another dogsled contractor, one of three in the Whistler area.

“It was all business, just trying to pump out the numbers,” Wilson said. “They wanted to have 12 teams running at once.”

“When you have 300 dogs, it’s different. The owners aren’t with them every day.”

Whistler lawyer Corey Steinberg — who is representing the man who filed the WCB claim — abruptly cancelled a press conference he had scheduled Monday afternoon.

Terry Cumming of Melfort, Sask., advocates against sled-dog operators through his website, Sled Dog Watchdog. He wasn’t surprised to hear of the allegations.

“It’s pretty common for [sled-dog operators] to kill dogs and not tell anyone,” Cumming said. “If the dogs are not capable of earning their keep, they’re of no value to either the dog-tour operators or the dog mushers.”

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